Method and a simple apparatus therefor to efficiently dispose of liquid wastes containing combustible carbonaceous material

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a method and a simple apparatus therefor to efficiently dispose of liquid wastes containing combustible carbonaceous material and water but being substantially free of substances yielding solid residue. This invention is preferably concerned with the disposal of liquid textile wastes. Broadly stated the method comprises: (a) heating at the temperature of its boiling point at atmospheric pressure a liquid waste containing combustible carbonaceous material and water, said liquid being substantially free of substances yielding solid residue. (b) simultaneously pressuring said liquid to maintain it in liquid state; (c) spraying into an open fire said heated liquid waste kept under pressure to flash out the liquid, thereby evaporating the water from said liquid and burning the combustible carbonaceous material. There is also provided a relatively simple incinerator for carrying out this method comprising: (a) an open fire furnace provided with a spraying nozzle, said nozzle spaced in relationship to said open fire, (b) a means to heat and pumping means to feed under pressure into said spraying nozzle a heated liquid waste of carbonaceous material containing water and yielding substantially no solid residue, to evaporate said liquid and to burn said carbonaceous material.

United States Patent 91 Whitfield [45] May 22, 1973 [54] METHOD AND ASIMPLE APPARATUS THEREFOR TO EFFICIENTLY [57] ABSTRACT DISPOSE 0F LIQUIDWASTES This invention relates to a method and a simple ap- CONTAININGCOMBUSTIBLE paratus therefor to efficiently dispose of liquid wastesCARBONACEOUS MATERIAL containing combustible carbonaceous material and75 Inventor; Fred Sparks w m Napanee water but being substantially freeof substances yield- Q i C d ing solid residue. This invention ispreferably concerned with the disposal of liquid textile wastes. [73]Ass'gnee Lmmed Montreal Broadly stated the method comprises: (a) heatingat Que anada the temperature of its boiling point at atmospheric [22]Filed: June 21, 1971 pressure a liquid waste containing combustiblecarbonaceous material and water, said liquid being sub- [211 Appl'1554,04 stantially free of substances yielding. solid residue. (b)simultaneously pressuring said liquid to maintain it in [52] US. Cl...110/7 R, 110/7 S liquid state; (c) spraying into an open fire saidheated [51] Int. Cl ..F23g 7/00 liquid waste kept under pressure toflash out the [58] Field of Search...' ..110/7, 7 S, 28; liquid, therebyevaporating the water from said liquid 431/2, 5 and burning thecombustible carbonaceous material. There is also provided a relativelysimple incinerator [56] References Cited for carrying out this methodcomprising: (a) an open fire furnace provided with a spraying nozzle,said noz- UNITED STATES PATENTS zle spaced in relationship to said openfire, (b) a 3,583,339 6/1971 Kube ..110/7 means to heat and pumpingmeans to feed under pres- 3,611,954 12/1971 Monroe, Jr..... ..110/7 sureinto said spraying nozzle a heated liquid waste of 3,357,375 12/1967 p ycarbonaceous material containing water and yielding 3,589,314 6/1971Ottensoos ..ll0/28 substantially no Solid residue, to evaporate saidliquid and to burn said carbonaceous material. Primary Examiner-KennethW. Sprague Attorney-Thomas J. Morgan et al. 10 Claims, 3 Drawing FiguresA3 /0 I 24 I f @uu /4 PATENTED 3.734.035

SHEET 1 OF 3 FIG.

INVENTOR Fred Sp arks WHITFIELD /.4 TENT AGENT PATENTEDWZZIQB $734,035

SHEET 2 [IF 3 INVENTOR Fred Sp urks WHITFIELD )JWMA W PATENT AGENTINVENTOR Fred Sp orks WHITFIELD PATENT AGENT METHOD AND A SIMPLEAPPARATUS THEREFOR TO EFFICIENTLY DISPOSE OF LIQUID WASTES CONTAININGCOMBUSTIBLE CARBONACEOUS MATERIAL This invention relates to a method anda simple apparatus therefor to efficiently dispose of liquid wastescontaining combustible carbonaceous material and water but beingsubstantially free of substances yielding solid residue. This inventionis preferably concerned with the disposal of liquid textile wastes.

Prior to this invention it was general practice to dispose of liquidwaste such as liquid textile wastes by merely spreading waste on openland.

In accordance with the invention there has now been found a usefulmethod that economically converts liquid wastes containing combustiblecarbonaceous material and water and being substantially free ofsubstances yielding solid residue, into useful energy. By the conversionof this waste, pollution of the environment is simultaneously reduced.This method is particularly applicable to liquid textile wastes.

Broadly stated the method comprises:

a. heating at the temperature of its boiling point at atmosphericpressure a liquid waste containing combustible carbonaceous material andwater, said liquid being substantially free of substances yielding solidresidue.

b. simultaneously pressuring said liquid to maintain it in liquid state;

c. spraying into an open fire said heated liquid waste kept underpressure to flash out the liquid, thereby evaporating the water fromsaid liquid and burning the combustible carbonaceous material.

The liquid waste that may be used in accordance with this inventionincludes for instance aqueous emulsions of waste spin finish comprisingoil and water; traces of dyes; methanol, glycol and water still washingand the like.

Broadly stated there is also provided a relatively simple incineratorfor carrying out this method compris ing:

a. an open fire furnace provided with a spraying nozzle, said nozzlespaced in relationship to said open fire,

b. a means to heat and pumping means to feed under pressure into saidspraying nozzle a heated liquid waste of carbonaceous materialcontaining water and yielding substantially no solid residue, toevaporate said liquid and to burn said carbonaceous material. Theheating means may for instance be a heat exchanger.

In the drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention,

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the components of the incinerator and therelationship of said components to one another.

FIG. 2 is a front view of part of the furnace adjacent to an open fire.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross section of part of the furnace takenalong line 3-3 of FIG. 2 showing a door of the furnace with a portionthereof partly removed.

Referring now to FIG. 1 the incinerator comprises a furnace partly shownat provided with at least one burner having a nozzle 12 generating anopen flame 13. The burner is coupled with auxiliaries not shown. A sprayjet 14 is spaced in relationship to the open flame 13. The jet 14 spraysa liquid waste received from the line 16 via pump 18. Generally theliquid waste is stored in tank 20. Before pumping it into line 16 it ispreheated to a temperature above its boiling point at atmosphericpressure, for instance, by means of a heat exchanger 19. The pressureexerted by pump 18 must be such as to maintain the waste in liquid stateuntil it reaches the spray jet 14. Generally the pressure exerted on thewaste may be in the order of 50 lbs/inch to 60 lbs/inch? On leaving thespray jet 14, the liquid waste is sprayed into the fire or flame and theliquid is flashed out, thereby evaporating the water from said liquidwaste while burning the combustible carbonaceous material. Thus thewater content is converted into vapor at high temperature. This vaportogether with the products of combustion circulate around a plurality ofrunning pipes 22 and boiler 24 giving up most of their heat contentsthen pass through the boiler stack to finally emerge to the atmosphere.These running pipes coupled with boilers are used to supply steam to therequired units not shown. The furnace is generally provided withauxiliaries (not shown) such as manual or automatic controls for airintake for the furnace to compensate to suit.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the furnace is provided with a door 26. Thedoor is secured with lugs, bolts and nuts, as shown at 29. The handle 28is linked to and controls the vanes 30 that direct and provide aswirling action to the incoming air required for combustion. Portions ofthe door 26 extend to form with extentions 31 of the furnace, hingeswhich are pivotally mounted at 32. For sake of convenience, the door maybe provided with a window 34.

The oil burner better shown on FIG. 3 comprises coaxial partitions, 36,38 forming lines to feed in the mixing nozzle 12 of the burnerrespectively fuel oil and steam. The burner is of the type whereby heavyfuel oil is preheated to render it fluid and fed under pressure withsteam to form a homogeneous mixture through the orifices 12a of themixing nozzle of the burner 12. The accompanying expansion of the steamatomizes the oil into finely divided particles.

To enable easy removal of the partitions for cleaning purposes etc., thepartitions are provided with a plurality of handles 44 and 45, 46 (shownin FIG. 2).

Spaced in relation to the nozzle 12 of the burner, a spray jet 14forming fog extends from a lance 50 joined to the line 16. The lance isheld in position by screws 52. Screw 54 secures a collar 56 to the lance50 and the collar 56 acts as a stop when inserting the lance, thusmaintaining dimension b. The optimum position of the spray jet inrelation to the oil burner, (distance a and b as shown in FIG. 3) areempirically determined. As it can be easily seen this spray jetarrangement may be operated without substantial changes when no waste isavailable. The spray jet and lance may be secured to the door 26 of thefurnace by means of bracket 55 and screw 52. For securitys sake thespray jet may be provided with an automatic shut-off of the liquid inthe event of a flame outage of the furnace, i.e., of nozzle 12 of theburner.

The outermost partition 40 is itself secured to the door 26 by bracket58 and screw 60, and to housing 62 at 64-66. The housing is itselfmounted between the door 26 and the furnace. The housing 62 supports theburner assembly and vanes 30 and contains the air required forcombustion, passing between the vanes 30.

The furnace is generally provided with auxiliaries such as air registerto control air admission to the furnace.

The debit rate of the liquid carbonaceous waste sprayed from the sprayjet 14 is controlled to avoid any carry-over of water to the back of thecombustion chamber. This is attained empirically by relating the size ofthe flame (and consequently the oil burned and the subsequent amount ofsteam generated in the boiler) to the amount of liquid carbonaceouswaste sprayed.

Although this invention has been explained with particular reference tooil burner furnace, it should be borne in mind that solid fuels are alsocontemplated. However, the spray nozzle, could well be located at otherlocations and consequently the flashing off of the water.

EXAMPLE A mixture of liquid carbonaceous waste was preheated to itsboiling point at atmospheric pressure (approximately 212) and kept under50 psi. The mixture of liquid carbonaceous waste was approximately:

a. about 7 parts alcohol still washing containing approximately 80percent methanol, l percent glycol and 10 percent water, and

b. 22 parts of spin finish waste containing approximately 2 percent oiland 98 percent water.

The mixture was fed to a fine spray nozzle or jet located adjacent tothe oil jets in the fire box of a boiler of the boiler or theFoster-Wheeler type fitted with Todd type oil burner. (A trade mark fora burner available from a Corporation located in New York, USA.) Thedistance a and 11 between the jet 14 and nozzle 12 were about one halffoot each respectively vertically center to center and horizontally faceof spray to face of nozzle.

The pressure and delivery rates were arrived at by visual observation.Under these conditions, complete combustion was obtained and confirmedby analysis of the flue gas. The spray jet was provided with anautomatic shut off of the liquid in the event of a flame outage of theboiler. An approximate value of about 700 B.T.U. per pound of themixture was obtained. The boiler was rated at 30,000 lbs/hour at 250lbs/square inch. When incinerator equipment was in use at a rate ofabout 137 imperial gallons/hr at 50 lbs/square inch delivery pressure, aminimum of approximately 15,000 lbs per hour at 250 lbs per square inchper boiler was obtained.

The incineration temperature was 2000 to 2200F. The brick stack was 125'0" high above grade, 4'6 inside diameter. The flue gas temperature ofthe boiler breeching was approximately 500F and at the top of the stackapproximately 450F. Flue gas by test indicated unburned combustible: niland approximately 3 percent excess oxygen.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

l. A method for incinerating liquid waste containing combustiblecarbonaceous material and water, comprising:

a. heating at the temperature of its boiling point at atmosphericpressure a liquid waste containing combustible carbonaceous material andwater, the said liquid being substantially free of substances yieldingsolid residue;

b. simultaneously pressuring said liquid to maintain it in liquid state;

c. spraying into an open fire said heated liquid waste kept underpressure to flash out the liquid and thereby evaporating the water fromsaid liquid and burning the combustible carbonaceous material.

2. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the liquid waste comprisesan aqueous emulsion of waste spin finish.

3. The method as defined in claim 2 wherein the liquid waste comprises amethanol still washing.

4. The method as defined in claim 3 wherein said still washing containsalso glycol.

5. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the liquid waste is heatedto a temperature above 212F.

6. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the pressure exerted on theheated liquid is about 50 lbs/Sq.lnch to 60 lbs/sq.lnch.

7. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the liquid is fed at about1,400 lbs/hour.

8. An incinerator for liquid waste of carbonaceous material containingwater and yielding substantially no solid residue, comprising:

a. an open fire furnace provided with a spraying nozzle, said nozzlebeing spaced in relationship to said open fire,

b. a means to heat and pumping means to feed under pressure a liquidwaste of carbonaceous material containing water and yieldingsubstantially no solid residue into said spraying nozzle and toevaporate said liquid and to burn said carbonaceous material.

9. The incinerator as defined in claim 8 wherein the heating means is aheat exchanger.

10. The incinerator as defined in claim 8 wherein the furnace isgenerated on open fire by means of an oil burner.

1. A method for incinerating liquid waste containing combustiblecarbonaceous material and water, comprising: a. heating at thetemperature of its boiling point at atmospheric pressure a liquid wastecontaining combustible carbonaceous material and water, the said liquidbeing substantially free of substances yielding solid residue; b.simultaneously pressuring said liquid to maintain it in liquid state; c.spraying into an open fire said heated liquid waste kept under pressureto flash out the liquid and thereby evaporating the water from saidliquid and burning the combustible carbonaceous material.
 2. The methodas defined in claim 1 wherein the liquid waste comprises an aqueousemulsion of waste spin finish.
 3. The method as defined in claim 2wherein the liquid waste comprises a methanol still washing.
 4. Themethod as defined in claim 3 wherein said still washing contains alsoglycol.
 5. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the liquid waste isheated to a temperature above 212*F.
 6. The method as defined in claim 1wherein the pressure exerted on the heated liquid is about 50lbs/Sq.Inch to 60 lbs/sq.Inch.
 7. The method as defined in claim 1wherein the liquid is fed at about 1,400 lbs/hour.
 8. An incinerator forliquid waste of carbonaceous material containing water and yieldingsubstantially no solid residue, comprising: a. an open fire furnaceprovided with a spraying nozzle, said nozzle being spaced inrelationship to said open fire, b. a means to heat and pumping means tofeed under pressure a liquid waste of carbonaceous material containingwater and yielding substantially no solid residue into said sprayingnozzle and to evaporate said liquid and to burn said carbonaceousmaterial.
 9. The incinerator as defined in claim 8 wherein the heatingmeans is a heat exchanger.
 10. The incinerator as defined in claim 8wherein the furnace is generated on open fire by means of an oil burner.